Chasing Catastrophe

As seen on Fox and Friends From the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other conflict zones to the base of the burning Twin Towers on 9/11 to the eye of countless hurricanes, Rick Leventhal chronicles some of the most amazing stories he’s covered in his thirty-five years as a news reporter, anchor, and Senior Correspondent—with some life lessons thrown in along the way.Part memoir and part leadership manifesto, Chasing Catastrophe empowers those who are ready to work hard to overcome adversity and achieve their goals. In this book, Rick Leventhal shares some incredible highlights and some of the most challenging moments of a career spanning thirty-five years. Rick shares what it was like to sleep in the dirt in the Iraqi desert; to stand at the base of the Twin Towers in flames and run from the smoke cloud when they fell; to face a Category 5 hurricane; to be on scene when one of America’s most cheered and respected race car drivers crashed and died; to hurry to the frozen Hudson River from Midtown after Captain Sully landed his plane on its icy surface; to separate fact from fiction on the fly and figure out what could be reported—and what couldn’t; and to be in awe meeting some of the most famous people in America, only to learn they were fans of his work.

Rick Leventhal is a veteran journalist who spent thirty-five years covering wars, hurricanes, terror attacks, and other major breaking news stories across the country and around the world. After ten years at local affiliates, Rick quickly rose to Senior Correspondent at Fox News Channel where he was assigned to many of the biggest stories of the past twenty-five years. He ran from the dust cloud when both towers fell on 9/11, embedded with Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, spent weeks in Libya covering the fall of Mu'ammar Al-Qadhdhafi, chased countless storms and other breaking news, and remained rock solid on air through all of it. Rick is very happily married to the former Kelly Dodd, best known for her five years on Bravo TV’s The Real Housewives of Orange County and a proud stepfather to her daughter Jolie. Rick has two other daughters of his own, Veronica and Shoshana, from a previous marriage. Rick, Kelly, and Jolie live in Newport Beach, where Rick and his wife host several weekly podcasts and are busy remodeling and renting homes in Palm Desert, California and Westhampton, New York.